Freespace 2: Aeolus
by Starfury1
Summary: As the war with the Shivan's hots up, a captain is pulled off backwater patrol duty by an old friend. Ch3 now up!
1. Chapter 1 An Old Friend

Chapter 1 Transmission primary: 1 of 2 

Priority          ………Epsilon Red, Trans-stellar transmission

Transmitter    ………3rd Fleet Capella Headquarters

Date             ………02/12/36

Author          ………3rd Fleet Command, Capella System, Assignments Division

Receiver        ………Commander Hadrian, GTC _Aeolus_ (_Aeolus_ – Class)

CC                ………2nd Fleet Vega Headquarters, GTVA Command Delta Serpenta

Subject          ………Transfer orders for GTC _Aeolus_

Attached       ………ram.13/dynamo/loc

                    ………ram.14/convoy/detail

                    ………ram.16/coo/loc

          Commander Hadrian, the GTC _Aeolus_ is now relieved of patrol duty in Delta Serpenta. You are hereby ordered to make best possible speed to the Vega system (see attached file ram.13/dynamo/loc), where you are to rendezvous with the GTCv _Dynamo_ and several support vessels (see attached file ram.14/convoy/detail). The _Aeolus_ and the _Dynamo_ are then to escort these vessels through the Vega and Capella systems and see them delivered to GTVA forces at given co-ordinates (file ram.16/coo/loc). From there you will receive new orders via inter-system transmission.

          As of this notice, you are transferred from the 2nd Fleet, 4th Squadron to the 3rd Fleet and are now under the direct command of Admiral Petrarch. Your duties will involve operations in both Gamma Draconus and the Nebula beyond, as well as possible actions against NTF forces as needed.

Signed; 

Captain Holdi, GTVA Command

Transmission tertiary: 2 of 2 

John,

          Things are hotting up out here. I'm pressed on two fronts and the Shivan's seem to be throwing everything they've got at us. Our situation is tenuous as it is, and there seems to be no end in sight. Command's putting the best spin on things, but we're losing one ship for every two Shivan cruisers we take down – I don't know about the Shivan's, but we're running out of ships! Between the NTF rebellion and the Shivan attacks, I'm down to 60% of what I should have, and that includes fuel and missiles.

          Don't come here expecting a picnic, John. The Shivan's aren't letting us walk over them and I get the feeling that something big is coming. I'm calling every favour I've got to get extra ships assigned but it may not be enough. 

Sorry to drag you into it, but I need your help with this.

Signed;

          Petrarch

          "Fuck" muttered Danny from over my shoulder.

          "Aye, fuck indeed" I replied, putting down the datapad. "Better pass on the word to the bridge that we're heading out – get the ship ready for subspace"

          "Aye aye sir!" answered Danny with a grin. "Dammit, and there I was looking forward to sitting in the arse end of nowhere pulling combat pay without getting shot at!" She left my cabin laughing.

Chuckling to myself, I turned back to my desk and looked down. The pad looked back.

Dammit, I wasn't look forward to this.

          "Captain on the bridge!" Bawled Ensign Actar as I stepped passed through the hatch. 18 and on his first cruise, his voice just broke at the end of his yell. Guess he was a late developer. Trying to hide a smile, which I guess from the blush creeping up his neck I failed at, I strode to the centre of the bridge and sat in the centre chair, just behind the Nav console and overlooking the gun-pit.

          "Commander, what's our status?"

          I sensed Danny straighten up behind me, and could almost see her unconsciously tugging at her uniform. "We're ready to go Captain. Engines are primed for the jump to the node, all weapons are checked and locked. She's ready"

          "Alrighty then – Navigation! prime engines and set course for the node. Weapons! I want a full tactical options available as soon as we emerge from the node. I don't want to be surprised by anything!" I barked at the crew and sat back as they leapt into action. Within seconds I heard the subspace engines begin to roar, pushing the _Aeolus_ forward into subspace. The view screens filled with the glittering blue of subspace and…

          …star's blossomed into life through the viewports.

          "Jump completed successfully sir. Welcome to the Vega system" called Actar from the navigation console in front of me, his duty station for this shift. Mercifully, his voice didn't crack this time.

          "Good job Actar. Sensors, anything showing up?" I called out stiffly from my chair, feeling the aches of the 2 hour watch beginning to set in.

          "Reading two weapons platform above and below us, _Cerberus-_class. IFF confirms them as friendlies. Also reading several cargo vehicles moving towards and away from the node"

          "Ok then. Tactical, power down weapons but do not disengage the power lines. Lets keep them hot for now. Comm, lets start…"

          "Sir, incoming signal from the GTCv _Dynamo_" called across the comm officer, cutting me off mid-sentence.

          "Well someone's in a hurry. How did they know we where here?" muttered Danny, leaning over from behind my command chair.

          "Probably hacked into one of the Cerberus's and had a live video field going. Comm, bring it up on my chair-vid" I replied to both Danny and the comm tech, while simultaneously popping up a video screen set into the armrest of my chair. Within a minute I sat face to face with a man half a solar system away.

          "Captain" intoned the man facing me. "Captain Athan here. Good to see you. I've attached my co-ordinates to this transmission, one frequency below this" I glanced up and to the left of me, and got a nod from the comm tech letting me know that we had the co-ordinates.

          "Aye Captain, I've got them. I'll be jumping momentarily to them once the engines are primed" I told Athan, speaking directly in to the monitor in front of me.

          "Excellent – I'll have the convoy ready to move by the time you arrive".

          The convoy turned out to be a collection of about 15 vessels, ranging from GTVA medical carriers to troop transports. The most common ships were, surprisingly, Science vessels, all headed for the research project at the Knossos portal. Grouped together they formed a rough ovoid around which a wing of fighters formed an outer shell. Within the patrol crafts flight path, the _Dynamo_ and the _Aeolus_ formed a secondary inside shell guarding the valuable ships inside.

          The _Dynamo_ was a _Deimos_-class Corvette, a long black ship with deep chinned prow and a stubby engine block at its rear. Weapons turrets and beam cannons studded its hull, the darkened pits of the gun muzzles contrasting against the star filled back drop.

          In comparison, the _Aeolus_ was a far different ship. The original test bed for the _Aeolus_-class warship, the _Aeolus_ itself was a ship with a dark history. Originally built as the prototype and test-bed, the _Aeolus_ became the model for the GTVA's new line of Light Cruiser aimed at replacing the ageing _Fenris_-class cruisers. However, 6 months in to the _Aeolus's_ maiden voyage, a failed subspace jump and an uncharted comet combined to devastate the ship, near ruining the ship when it jumped off course in to the path of the comet. The captain, Fernstram, and his bridge crew, along with 27% of the ships crew were killed instantly and more than 30 compartments were opened up to the vacuum of space by the impact.

          Recovered by the GTVA, the _Aeolus_ spent a further 6 months in a dry dock while decisions raged in high offices over what to do with the vessel. The _Aeolus_ design had fallen out of favour and while the class was still being produced several design flaws had meant its usefulness in the near future was limited. Eventually, the ship was set to be rebuilt, after the dry-dock commander pulled several favours.

          Redesigned to his personal specifications, the _Aeolus_ became an entirely new type of Light Cruiser. Fitted with improved Vasudan reactors, the power available to the ship was doubled while experimental automation techniques halved the number of crew members needed to man the ship. The outer hull was reinforced, making up for the originals lack of armour and additional compartments were added in to the ship, allowing for sections to be easier isolated and sealed.

          Overall, when the _Aeolus_ left the dry dock a year later she was a new ship. She had new computers, new weapons, new reactors – and most importantly, a new captain.

The dry-dock commander, John Hadrian.


	2. Chapter 2 Escort Duty

Chapter 2 

For 2 hours now the convoy had been gliding softly through space. From their position at the rear of the convoy, the glow of the convoys engines was near to blinding, but yet carried with it a serene kind of grace as the flickering lights of the engines drifted about the starry sky.

Well, that's what I thought anyway. I stared around the rest of the bridge and noted that most of my crew had little time for the view in front of them. Most of the dozen or so officers and ratings stationed around me and below me were starring at their screens – the monotony of a two hour convoy escort in friendly space was not something easily surpassed. Most were, I mused, probably asleep at their stations.

Sleeping with your eyes open is one of the first things you learn in any armed force. Navy ratings excelled at sleeping with their eyes open while managing to maintain their watch – some were even able to respond to orders and yet still be asleep! For the marines, such as those stationed at the hatchway behind me, the ability to march while asleep came just as fast. My grandfather, elderly and probably senile by the time I was growing up, had regaled me with tales of his time in the Marine Corps, putting down planetary insurrections and fighting boarding actions against interstellar pirates. He'd claimed to be able to have been able to march for 8 hours straight, while asleep, form up a perimeter, while asleep, and pitch his tent – all while asleep. Until I'd joined that Navy at 18, I'd doubted him severely but now I was probably able to do all those things.

Unlike some of my crew…

"Ensign Actar!" I bellowed from my command chair, startling the young officer whose head had drooped down into his folded arms. With a start, Actar shot up into a military posture – back straight as a ruler, arms locked at his sides, feet firmly planted on the deck. "I'm terribly sorry my company is so boring – perhaps you'd like to go to your cabin and sleep while I attend your duties?" I said to him, keeping my face grim as the young lad reddened.

"No Sir Captain Sir!" he spluttered, nearly lapsing into a stutter. The red had bloomed up well past his collar this time, and I wondered if maybe his hair would turn as red as his face. He was quite obviously scared shitless – as well he should be. Falling asleep at his post, _ in front of his captain_… not only was it dangerous as it left a crucial system unmanned, but stupid to boot! Sleeping with your eyes open was a well acknowledged tradition – _falling_ asleep was a blatant breach of regulations.

"I should hope not!" I bellowed at him. I sympathised with him – Christ I wanted sleep myself – but discipline had to be enforced. Then again, much more bellowing and I had the feeling I'd be losing my voice. I quietened my tone and lowered my voice "Now, do you think you can manage to watch the sensor board without _falling_ asleep?" I asked him more gently.

"Yes Sir!" he replied. Sweat was beginning to appear on his face and the collar of his uniform looked noticeably darker.

"Right then – well perhaps you'd better get back to it" I said and Actar spun his chair to face his console, "And perhaps you'd care to join me in the exercise room later?" I asked him politely. Actar's face fell a mile.

"Yes Sir, I would" came his reply. Not sullenly nor resentfully – if I heard that I'd double his punishment exercised I planned to put him through, and he knew it.

I smiled inwardly, keeping my face stony as I rotated my chair to face the navigation station. A little exercise wouldn't hurt him, but it would imprint this little lesson on duty. I made a note to speak to one of the midshipman, who were the next rung up from the midshipman and traditionally kept an eye over young ensigns. A little tuition in the finer arts of sleeping with your eyes open probably wouldn't go amiss either, and the midshipman would make sure Actar never did anything like that in front of his commander again.

"Nav, what's our status?" I called out to the rating at the console, Peterson if I remembered his name right.

Spinning his chair around to face me, he replied. "Sir, the convoy is just waiting for the _Glory_ to finish recharging and we'll be jumping again. E.T.A is ten minutes thirty two seconds". Not long to go then. Two more jumps and we'd be at the Capella jump node, I thought to myself while giving Peterson a curt nod. He spun his chair back to the Nav console.

The problem with convoy runs like this were the fact that not all the ships were military vessels. Most, like the bulk freighter _Glory_ were Merchant Navy and despite the MN's quasi-military leanings they only rated commercial jump engines.

While military jump engines like those on the _Dynamo_ or the _Aeolus_ could have made the trip from the _ node to Capella node in one, maybe two jumps, the commercial jump engines the freighters had were limited by far smaller ranges and took a long time to recharge. Most of this was intentional – few military vessels go rogue or turn pirate, but its comparatively easy to steal a freighter and arm it. Hence the Navy kept the technological edge by making sure its ships could jump further, faster and with less time to stop and recharge. The best commercial engine on the market cost about half a systems gross planetary product and could do half a system like Vega in one go with a minimum 10 minute pause to recharge the subspace nodes. The _Aeolus_ could do 5 jumps in a row before needing to recharge the nodes – to go beyond that would push the limits of the system and therein ran the risk of node detonation. Imagine a nuke going off in the engine room of your ship, and that's a node detonation.

Minutes passed slowly as the count down to subspace continued. The bridge became still and quiet as we all waited for Peterson to count down the jump.

Peterson cleared his voice. "Five minutes to jump, Sir" he called, half-turning in his chair to face me.

Time to go, I thought. Standard procedure would be to lock down the ship, disengage non-critical systems like weapons and subsidiary computers and have the crew settle in for the jump. I should be ordering that all right about now…

"Sir?" called Peterson. An experienced hand, he knew the drill well.

Something nagged at the back of my mind, stopping me from ordering the lock-down. What was it, I wondered, that was stopping me from ordering it!

"Sir? Do you not want to lock-down the ship?" That from Actar. Dammit, even the ensign knew what I was meant to be doing.

I could feel the eyes of the bridge crew boring into me as sat in the chair. I had to stand! I got up, paced around the chair, feeling the eyes of the crew upon me. As I turned around to face the rear of the bridge, the lift doors chimed open and Danny walked onto the bridge, a questioning look on her face.

"Shouldn't we have jumped by now, Sir?" she asked quizzically. She looked around the bridge at the crew staring at me. "Sir?" She asked again, "Shouldn't we be jumping?"

I stopped and looked at her. A frown creased her forehead, and she stepped closer to me, "John? What wrong?" she whispered in to my ear.

"Something's wrong!" I hissed at her, and she flinched back as if struck, stepped away from me. I stalked around the chair a glared out the viewports. What the hell was wrong… I _felt_ something big coming. Something was wrong. I spun on my heel, and stared at the bridge, looking at each bridge member in turn. Most looked confused, Danny looked worried. Actar looked scared.

Actar was looking right at me, looking more scared now than he had when I was bawling him out. Actar…

Shit. "Red alert! All hands to battle stations! Lock and load missile tubes, full power to energy weapons!" I screamed out, slapping my hand down upon the comm system built into the arm chair of my seat. The computer, voice activated, set off the alarms causing sirens to wail and lights to strobe. The bridge was plunged into red emergency lighting as power was diverted to the weapons and engines by built in automatic systems responding to the red alert.

Danny stepped forward. "John, what the hell are you doing!" she yelled at me. Wordlessly I whirled to my chair and sank in to.

"Actar! Attend your station" I bellowed, causing him to flinch but obey. He spun to his station. His red-lit station. Blips were already moving down the sensor screen.

"Sir, reading approaching hostiles! 3 Wings of enemy fighters and a cruiser incoming. IFF reads them as Neo-Terran front!" he called out, miraculously his voice remaining un-broken.

"Incoming line from the _Dynamo_" called the comm tech from behind me.

"On my screen" I replied, and Captain Athan's image popped up on my chairs monitor.

"Captain Hadrian, I'm reading multiple enemy wings moving in and a _Fenris_-cruiser blocking the convoys escape route!" He cried down the comm channel at me, his earlier resolve clearly shaken.

"Roger that, Captain, I'm reading the same situation as you. I recommend you move you corvette out of escort and move up to engage that cruiser. _Aeolus_ and the fighter wing will cover the convoy" I suggested, feeling a calm beginning to come over me.

"But none of our weapons are ready! It'll take at least a minute for the tertiary systems to come back on-line, and more for the primary's!" I could almost smell my fellow captains fear wafting through space towards me.

"Negative on that – the _Aeolus_ is powered up and ready to fight. Keep your ship at half speed and the deny the…" I paused and shouted over my shoulder "Identify that cruiser!" as Danny simultaneously yelled over its name. "Deny the _Bloodclaw's_ approach until your systems are on-line and then finish them off!" A _Fenris_-Class was no match for a battle ready Corvette.

Athan looked troubled, sweat clearly showing over the comm-line. "Why are you systems still…" he began, but I cut him off with a sharp retort.

"Captain! Attend to your ship and engage that cruiser!" I ordered, cold as ice. Theoretically I had no authority over him as we were both captains and under separate commands, but my voice reached him.

"Aye Aye Sir. Signing off!" Replied Athan, already beginning to pull himself together. Some people just need orders, I thought to myself.

Outside the bridge, the convoy had begun to scatter as the enemy fighters began to make their first runs. Almost immediately a bloom of fire marred the blackness of space, as two wings of NTF Hercules-fighters swept past a sluggish freighter. Raked with cannon and missiles, the medium-sized craft split down the middle and emitted a visible shock wave of energy as its drive core exploded, rocking the strafing fighters with debris.

"All hands, lets do this!" I said over the general intercom. "Commander, engine room – now!" I said to Danny, and listened as she ran to the lift and entered it. Then she was gone.

"Comm, tie in active channels to the bridge speakers. Helm, move us up to that Science vessel to port and then hop us up over the top. Weapons, prepare port cannon and beam for a barrage. I want missiles out as soon as they have a lock on" I ordered to the still bridge, watching through the view-ports as another freighter rocked under a strafing pass, the older _Hercules_ fighters pursued by their new relations, _ Hercules II_. Our single wing of fighters was already split up, all four fighter craft now in groups of two chasing a different wing of enemy fighters - leaving one enemy wing unengaged. Already they had manoeuvred off to port and began another strafing run unnopposed, slicing in along the axis of the convoy from port to starboard. Up ahead, I could dimly see the drive's of the _Dynamo_ as she manoeuvred up to engage the _Bloodclaw_. All was going as planned.

Over the bridge speakers poured comm traffic from both the convoy and the fighters. Reports of damage and successes rolled in on top of one another, often overlaying each other in the babble.

Silently, the Aeolus sidled up to the Science vessel, keeping station with its thrusters as the vessel manoeuvred away to starboard away from the strafing enemy fighters. "Helm, hold her steady. Weapons prime" I ordered, speaking quietly and as clearly as I could. The view of the battle was now blocked by the bulk of the science vessel, but that didn't matter. I kept my eyes glued to the sensor panel on my arm rest, watching as both friend and foe twisted wildly through space to escape death. Already 2 enemy fighters, one from each wing, were down, destroyed by our own fighters and the convoys meagre defensive fire. Slowly but surely, the unengaged NTF finished a strafing run and looped round for another pass. My eyes were glued to the sensor screen.

"Helm, on my mark three, two, one – hit it!" I screamed out the last two words, felt my gravity double as the gravity field struggled to match the ships acceleration. The Aeolus shot up like a rocket, clearing the looming bulk of the science ship and letting it slip below her keel. Dead on to us was the NTF wing.

"All port weapons… FIRE!" I bellowed, and as one the cruisers guns fired, sending vibrant beams of energy rippling out into the enemy formation. Fire bloomed in silence as our shots struck home, a beam cannon vaporising a _Hercules_ in two strikes while a second rolled away from laser fire only to meet a stream of missiles. The third and fourth fighters rolled and twisted away from our fire, bucketed by the flak cannon sending timed projectiles into their paths. They shot over and under us, rolling to present undamaged shields to our fire.

"Starboard weapons, fire as you bear!" I bellowed again, and the crew hunched over their consoles to obey. Another beam cannon tore into one of the fighters, tearing away its shields and hull and sending the wreck spinning into space before exploding. The last fighter dodged around lasers and beams, sending a cloud of flares and chaff to drive the missiles away from it. Even so, several shots ran true and the fighter showed signs of damage, her speed falling markedly.

"Helm, give us a pursuit course. Lock in all forward weapons but hold your fire" I ordered, feeling the decking beneath my feet tremble as the Aeolus's engines roared into full power. "Comm, open a channel to that fighter"

"Line open"

"NTF Fighter, this is Captain Hadrian of the GTC _Aeolus_. Surrender now and you won't be harmed!" I barked into the comm channel, hoping both to avoid killing the pilot and to capture a valuable prisoner and fighter.

"… damn you come in now… now I tell you!" crackled back the NTF pilot. I felt a frown furrow my forehead. What the hell was he on about, I wondered.

"Comm, is that directed at us?" I questioned.

"Negative" came the reply, "Can't lock down the source – too much battle noise"

"Damn" I muttered. Who the hell was he talking to. All of a sudden I began to get a bad feeling again. "Helm, slow us down. I want some…"

"Subspace portal opening!" screamed Actar suddenly, "IFF reads NTF coding… NTF _Guttersnipe_, _ Aeolus_-class!"

"Shit!" I said, more to myself than to anyone else. Fucking shit… "Weapons, lock onto cruiser and engage as you come to bear. Try and take out her forward beams! Helm, take us up and over then roll us 180o!" I ordered to my crew, and they hurried to obey. Almost at once I felt the ship begin to rise again, while from in front of me I heard the pings of target acquisition systems locking on.

The enemy cruiser, the _ Guttersnipe_, sprang into realspace less then 100 meters in frontt of our prow, her engine block already blazing with fire as she drove towards us.

A failing of the _Aeolus_-class was her lack of heavy weaponry. With only one beam cannon port and starboard she had a limited fire arc. Take out those and against cruisers and bigger she was effectively defenceless. Unfortunately, the _Aeolus_ herself suffered the same failing as her brethren.

The _Aeolus_ began to rise above her sister ship, rolling herself over so it made the _Guttersnipe_ appear to be upside down. The two cruisers began to slide past each other, less than 50 meters from each other. Flak fire blossomed into exsistence in silence outside the ship, occasionally sending a deep, resonating boom through the hull of the _Aeolus_ as an explosive canister overshot its mark and slammed off the hull to spin into space, ruined.

"Targeting – lot of interference. Weapons primed!" came the call from the gun pit. The flak fire, apart from the visual display it created, couldn't harm a cruiser much. But it was effective for blinding sensors.

"Fire!" I called. Whoever got the first shot off would win this, and I prayed to god gambling would pay off.

Twin beams shot from the prow of _Aeolus_, slicing forward and down into the hull of the _Guttersnipe_. An explosion along the starboard ridgeline marred the hull of the _Guttersnipe_ and sent a shower of sparks and debris spinning into space. I needed no contact report to tell me one beam had hit its mark. The other beam carved into the hull, spewing wreckage into space but creating no explosions to indicate crucial systems damage.

The _Guttersnipe_ slid below us, spewing laser fire at us from her dorsal turrets. Each strike resonated through the hull, like the flak fire but more deeply. The ship rocked as consecutive blasts bit into the dorsal ridge of the _Aeolus_, while less noticeable thumps told of the discharge of our own laser cannon.

"Sir, she's manoeuvring alongside us! Coming up on our starboard flank!" called Peterson.

"Match her" I replied, confidant that my ships superior reactors would allow a fast recharge of her beam cannon.

Blue fire poured out of the _Guttersnipe's_ port beam cannon, brighter and more brilliant than our own fire had been by far. The impact rocked the ship, knocking people on the starboard side of the bridge out of their chairs as the ship keeled over to port. Sparks sprayed out of a forward fire panel and then erupted into fire itself as the panel ignited, spraying the gunners with shrapnel and flame.

"Damage report" I called out, choking on the haze of smoke which was filling the bridge. God knows that the stuff would do to our lungs, but even now my sight was impaired and I could barely see my own chair, let alone the rest of the bridge.

"Main systems stable. Power fluctuating. Massive damage to the starboard prow, no reports from the starboard beam cannon. Reading depressurisation as far as hatch 3" called someone from out of the haze, and it took me a second to realise it was Danny's voice coming from a wall mounted speaker, reporting from the engine room.

The Aeolus had been hit hard. Very hard. The enemy fire had ripped into our hull more than half its depth, spilling the interior of the ship into space. Luckily for them, any crew members caught in those sectors would have been flash vaporised by the blast and so not have had to experience decompression. Small comfort. Outside, the damaged _Guttersnipe_ slid past the _Aeolus_, her port prow now showing deep scarring on my vid screen.

"They double charged the cannon!" called a rating from the smoke, "Blew out the couplings and vaporised their own cannon!". The enemy cruiser had gambled on running twice as much power through their beam cannon than its was rated for – hoping to knock out the _Aeolus_ with a single strike. Though crippled, the _Aeolus_ was still kicking and screaming with life, while they had destroyed their only remaining heavy weapon. We had a chance. 

"Helm, swing us about – any and all weapons lock on. Target their engine room as you bear!". Laser fire still shot out of the _Guttersnipe_, splattering and biting against the _ Aeolus's_ armoured skin. Luckily the barrage was diffuse and not a single timed barrage, or else further severe damage would have been caused. I wasn't sure how much more the _Aeolus_ could take.

The _Aeolus_ swung around behind the _ Guttersnipe_, her undamaged engines drawing power from the destroyed starboard beam cannon on Danny's orders, giving the cruiser more manoeuvrability and speed than her counterpart.

"Weapons locked on!" called the gun chief, looming out of the smoke in front of me with a hand to his bleeding head. Rivulets of blood ran between his fingers. Slowly the smoke was being drawn from the bridge by the vents.

"Fir.." I began, only to pause as beam's shot from nowhere to slam into the hull of the _Guttersnipe_, spearing the ship on two blue beams. The _Dynamo_ had arrived.

"Fire!" I finished, hearing the relish in my own voice and leaping to my feet as lasers and beam shot out, spearing the enemy cruiser again through the engine section. The lasers chewed at the drive section, tearing into delicate systems and causing power to the drives to fail, extinguishing their flame. The beam cannon ripped through their hull, melting armour and decking as it dug its way through the enemy engine room until it burst through the other side.

The beam cannon touched against a coolant system, flash boiling the coolant itself which in a second was fed into the already over heating enemy reactor. A spear of bright white light shot out of the gaping hull breach caused by the beam cannon and then spread, enveloping the entire cruiser in an explosion as the reactor detonated. The rear aft of the _ Guttersnipe_ was vaporised, sending flows of molten metal spinning out into space while the prow and engine block where thrown separate ways, spinning off into space as ruined hulks of metal.

The shockwave slammed into the _Aeolus_, hitting like a bomb itself. Sparks flew from all around me as I was tossed around the bridge, coming to rest with a my back against a bulkhead. Through the disspearing smoke of the bridge I could see the wreckage of the _Guttersnipe_ spinning away, and beyond it the remnants of the convoy, engines still blazing as they made their to the jump point.


	3. Chapter 3 Reunion

The nebula gases swirled and danced through space, a veritable kaleidoscope of sights and colours filling everything for as far as the eye could see. Strings of denser matter ribboned their way through the gas clouds, highlighted by the harsh white light of lightning storms, triggered from volatile gases mixing in the nebula.

The ancient remnant of a star, the nebula spanned the remnants of an unknown and un-named solar system. The size and distance of the nebula itself was massive – spanning more than four times Sol or Cappella in terms of sheer size, and within it lurked the foundations for new stellar nursery's where one day new stars would blossom into life. Even now the nebula was growing and expanding, reaching out deeper into space as the decaying old white dwarf at its centre continued to eject material from its core, sending particles spinning away from the star on escape velocities to join the stellar remnant.

"See anything?" murmured a voice from alongside my ear, making me jump in surprise and crack my head on the curving bulkhead above me.

Right, two can play that game, I thought to myself. "Actually, yes I do Commander" I replied to Danny, half turning to face her while keeping my eyes staring out of the viewport.

"Really? Something interesting I hope!" said Danny, moving closer to the viewport to get a better look out the reinforced plastic, and incidentally closer to me. I took a breath quietly and then moved around behind her. "Where were you looking?" asked Danny, "I can't see anything especially great".

"Look straight ahead. That's right – straight out through the viewport. Can you see it?" I told her, sliding up behind her in the cramped compartment so I could look out the viewport as well. "That's it – right in front of you now" I told her again, and she craned her head forward to peer through the gases in front of her.

"I can't see anything but gas!" she complained, still staring out the plastic with serious intent.

"Its there"

"Is it worth all this effort?"

"Oh yes, its beautiful" I half whispered. She was snagged now, staring out into the nebula with all her will. I moved again closer to her, lifting my arm up to her shoulder. I felt her move back against me, subconsciously adjusting to my presence as she scanned the skies. I lifted my arm higher, as if to drape it over her shoulder.

WHAM!

I pushed my hand into the back of her head, throwing her forehead forward into the viewport a few inches in front of her with a smack. She rebounded off the tough plastic and fell back onto the floor, coming to a harsh landing on her arse as I neatly sidestepped out of her way.

"That's for scaring the living crap out of your commander!" I said with a laugh as I pulled Danny up off the floor. She growled at me, but was grinning all the same. I hadn't pushed her _that_ hard into the plastic.

Danny stood up straight and brushed herself off, tucked her red hair back behind her ear and looked me square in the eye. At a square six foot, that required a fair bit of looking down on her part to my five six. Tall, short cropped red hair usually tucked behind one ear and with a slim athletic build Danny took the best parts of both her parents, one a model and the other a naval captain, to create possibly the most lustful object in the Navy as I new it. "That wasn't nice Johnny!" she exclaimed after a moments thought, and I doubled over in laughter at the high pitched voice she effected.

As I felt tears form at the corner of my eye, I saw her take the bottom part of her blue naval shirt and tug it down.

Fuck!

I spun to the side just a Danny thundered an open palmed sweep through the air where my head had been. I brought my head up as I came into a half crouch and was forced to dive away to one side as Danny's foot cut through the air where my feet had been. I rolled and stood up, using my left arm to block another sweeping palm and then spinning on my heel to plant an elbow in her midriff.

Or I tried to. Halfway through the manoeuvre one of her legs snaked through mine and caught the back of my left knee, which was currently holding all my weight up for me. As I tumbled, I snaked both arms around her right arm and pulled her down with me, rolling so I fell atop her.

Again, I tried to. As she hit the floor with her back her legs swept up and planted her feet on my chest. One push and I was off the top of her and rebounding off a bulkhead into an intended kick to the stomach. I pushed it aside with one arm as I came back off the wall and then swept in close to her, catching her in a bear hug and bowling her over to the floor. The fall stunned her for a moment and I backed off, allowing her to regain her feet. She came at me again, swinging in legs and punching with fists. I blocked and parried, swept in a few of my own leg kicks and even managed to knock her back into a bulkhead with another charge.

After several minutes though, the end was clear to both of us. Danny was faster and quicker – she blocked my attacks and riposted almost as one, the moves instinctual for her as breathing was to me. In desperation, I gathered my last shreds of reserve energy and leapt into the attack, slicing a harsh riposte into her wrist and then spinning to plant a boot firmly into her ribcage, for which I was rewarded a satisfying gasp of expelled air from her lungs. I spun on my left heel and planted a foot on the bulkhead directly behind me, kicking off it and spinning my foot through the air. 

Coming off the bulkhead, Danny ducked under the foot and grabbed hold of my flailing legs with both hands and spun, bringing me crashing into the floor as she threw me down on to it. It felt as if my spine was trying to exit my body via my rib-cage.

Seeing I was finished, Danny flopped down onto the deck next to me. Both of us were sweaty and exhausted. Self-consciously she brushed her hair back behind her ears and even managed to straighten out her tunic. Looking down at mine, I saw at least two dozen creases and what looked to be a foot print marring the fabric. I looked up again and saw Danny vainly trying not to giggle.

"All right all right! I know it was the wrong thing to do!" I exclaimed with several halting breaths. My _ lungs_ felt bruised, and several dozen minor bruises were making themselves known to me as I lay flat on the thankfully cool deck.

"A Rebound?" giggled Danny. "I hope you don't think you kick _that_ hard!"

"Oh fine" I breathed grumpily, still trying to cram as much oxygen as possible into my aching body. "What should I have done then?"

"Well not that for one thing! A Rebounds a finishing move, for when your opponents on his last legs" she replied, looking thoughtful. "Maybe a few punches to the chest and gut, or if I'd been a male a kick between the legs. A Rebounds to slow – I was able to recover and take you out with a Slam easily!"

"Guess that's why you graduated top of our martial arts class then"

"Did you even graduate? Oh don't look so pissed. You know you did well in that one, and you were only just behind me on the test"

I laughed "Only cause you lost points for breaking that Marine you were meant to be 'sparring' with" I said, stressing out the sparring part. Danny and sparring didn't mix – Danny and fighting, that mixed very well.

"I didn't break him! Only his jaw and collarbone" argued Danny. She tossed her head and gave me a sly look "Anyway, I made it up to him when he got out of hospital"

I could think of no reply to that! So I stuck out my tongue instead. Danny hated that. So she tried to rip it from my skull with her fingers as soon as she saw it. We rolled on the deck as I vainly tried to stop her pulling my tongue out of my mouth.

A cough brought us up short. I closed my eyes and turned my head towards the door. Opening them slowly, painfully, I saw Actar standing at attention in the open hatchway. A bright red Actar.

All too painfully I was aware of the current situation – a sweaty and exhausted Captain and his second in command, lying with each other on the floor of one of the observation rooms.

"Ahem, ah…" I muttered off. Now this did a lot for my command presence!

"Ensign, report!" called out Danny, sharp as a knife. Actar sprung to attention as if a tightly wound spring.

"Sirs! Admiral Petrarch has requested permission to board the _Aeolus_!" answered back the furiously blushing Ensign. Thank god for Danny, I thought.

"Ahem" I cleared my throat, "Tell the watch to let him aboard and have him escorted to my cabin. Get the galley to clear the dining hall" a silly word for a four by four metre cubicle with a steel table, I thought "and have them prepare the menu I set up earlier. Three places"

"Aye Aye Sir!" replied Actar, still bright red. He stood there for a moment, as if pondering a question, and then abruptly left by bounding down the hall. The hatch slid shut.

"Oh bollocks. Now the whole crew's going to think I'm shagging the XO!" I exclaimed to the heavens, who at the moment didn't really seem to care.

Danny laughed out loud at that, then collected herself. "Don't worry Johnny – I'll catch up with him and set him right" she assured me.

"For Christ's sake don't do that" I exclaimed. I was getting lots of practice at exclaiming, "He'll think we're trying to cover something up"

"You ordering me not to Johnny?"

"You bet!"

"Aye Aye Sir" She replied smartly, though I could see a grin upon her face as she strode past me. She'd ignore me, to be sure, but at least she'd feel good about it. She always got out of shape if she didn't get to break something regularly, and on a naval starship there weren't _that_ many things you could break and get away with. I guess an order was as good as a jawbone to her.

I picked up my stuff, a few spare coins and a pen which had slid loose of my pockets during the sparring session, and left for my cabin. God knows what would happen if Actar started gossiping about what he'd seen. If someone heard it and passed it on up the chain of command, I'd probably have to stand before an inquiry for breach of conduct – liaisons with subordinates were not allowed, especially aboard the same ship. Aside from that, half the male crew would want to kill me for shagging their sex idol. 

The other half would want a blow by blow account, with images to back up my claims to boot.

Either way, it was out of my hands now. I tried to clear my mind and think of a way of how to explain my uniform before I saw the Admiral. At least Danny would have time to shower and change before dinner…

I punched the code for my cabin and strode in, unsurprised to see the Admiral already in my cabin before me. After all, he wasn't in the corridor behind me so where else he could have been.

The Admiral sat on the small bed set into one side of cabin's far bulkhead, staring down onto a photo. I didn't think he'd heard me come in, but before I could even come to attention he spoke out. "How long has it been John?" he asked quietly.

I swallowed, feeling my throat dry out. "Four years, seven months and seventeen days Admiral" I answered, even more quietly than the Admiral if that were possible.

"I keep meaning to ask you for a copy of this photo. The fire claimed most of them, you know" he spoke quietly, still staring intently at the photo.

"I know Admiral. You can have that one" I offered gently, though it tore at my heart to offer it to him.

"No. A copy will do me fine" the Admiral looked up at me now, "I won't take it away from you"

I wasn't inclined to argue, not in the slightest. "Thank you Admiral" I said simply. Neither of us speaking for a few moments, both us of reflecting upon the past.

Suddenly, the Admiral stood up off the bed and crossed the small space between us to offer me his hand. I shook it, ignoring the tears which welled in his eyes. "Come now John, how long has it been since I last saw you and Danny?" he asked gruffly, almost awkwardly. I was glad of the chance to change the conversation.

"Nearly 6 months, Admiral. Just before _ Aeolus_ and I rooted out those rogue's in Delta Serpenta"

"Ah yes, I remember seeing the reports on _ that_ piece of action. A fine piece of work there" he turned away and discreetly brushed away the tears from his eyes. I ignored him, out of politeness. "How did she hold up?" he asked as he began pacing around the cabin.

"Well" I answered, "Very well. We took some knocks but bonded armour held off most of it, and the new reactors gave us a much faster recharge time than anything they had" I paused for a moment "We had a rough time of it, I'll admit, but we took down all three cruiser-weight ship's they had and vaporised their moon-base"

"Indeed. You should have called for reinforcements on that one Johnny" the Admiral said pointedly.

I shook my head sadly. "There was not time Admiral. Anyway, it all worked out quite nicely I thought"

"Indeed, you rescued all the hostages and killed the rogue leader in what I hear was the best example of fencing ever seen in Delta Serpenta"

"Well, he was an antiques collector you see…" The Admiral cut me off with a laugh. "I'm sure he was Johnny, and I'm sure you carved him up nicely for his pains" he said. "Still, not everything worked out just right, did it"

"No, not really" I replied. The cruise through Delta Serpenta had meant to be a show case cruise for the retrofitted _Aeolus_-Class. Despite proving itself in combat, Command refused to see reason on re-building the remaining _Aeolus's_ in service. Having the evaluation team kidnapped from the _Aeolus_ might have had something to do with that, I thought sadly.

The Admiral saw my glum expression. "Its not all bad. You made some headway with Command, or so I hear. And rumour had it that you and one of evaluators got on quite closely during the combat.." the Admiral let that one trail off.

"Ahem, well…" luckily I was saved by the bell, or rather the chime from my hatch. Excusing myself from the Admiral, I turned to the hatch and pushed it open. Actar stood outside, already at attention.

"Ensign?"

"Galley reports that dinner is prepared, Captain"

"Excellent" I replied, "Wait here for the moment". I turned back to the Admiral.

"That was the galley – dinners ready Admiral"

"Ah excellent. Well, lead the way" he said, putting down the photo on my desk.

"Well if you'll follow Actar here, he'll lead you on your way. I just need to change quick, and I'm sure Commander Croll will be pleased to entertain you" I replied, pointing at the stained and creased tunic I wore. The Admiral gave a quick laugh and then nodded his head.

"Yes indeed. I'll see to Danny first" that with a sly wink that I had to laugh at "and then you can join us for dinner, Captain"

"Of course Admiral" I nodded, and he followed Actar out of my cabin. I waited for the hatch to hiss shut, then strode to my desk. I picked up the picture the Admiral had put down and stared at it. Danny and myself stared back at me, 5 years younger, looking all groomed and proper at 20 years old. A brown haired young man stood between us, medium height, medium build. Both me and Danny had our arms round his back, while he held Danny with both arms looped around her waist.

Danny's fiancé.

My best friend.

Petrarch's son.


	4. Chapter 4 Update

Just a little up-date, in case any peeps are still waiting,

Had to take a break from writing due to exams, but there all over now (cue cheering!) so I can get back on track with the story. Actually, I did manage to write half of chapter 4 during my exams… but it's a load of rubbish, so lets not go there. Give me a few weeks and I'll have something worthwhile to post.


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